The Parker Boston (nee LaGrange Tower) | 47-55 LaGrange St. | Downtown

stoweker said:
wow for new build this thing is selling cheap on a PSF basis, which i guess makes sense tucked away a little bit. being across the street from the private army at the front of the strip clubs probably makes this the safest pocket in downtown too.
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I can only assume you're referencing the quotes from the Parker website [you naughty/lazy boy, that you didn't supply the link! ;) ]

I'd argue it's also very safe just for being embedded in an area of extraordinary population density. This census tract must be 20,000 per sq. mi. or more. Even if a lot of those folks are transient apartment dwellers (and thus theoretically less "invested in the community"), there's still 1,000s of long-term condo owner residents nearby. Point being: lots of "eyes on the street." People have such ridiculously inflated/distorted fears of crime in Downtown--I bet if you dug-down into the reported crimes for that precinct, you'd find the vast vast majority are (sadly) homeless-on-homeless assault, petty larceny (shoplifting at the several large dept. stores + numerous convenience stores), and idiotic college kids wandering onto the Common at 2 am and being [shockingly!] preyed upon. Realistically, exactly zero of that impacts buyers here.

Also, in terms of cheap PSF sales prices, and how various factors may have impacted that--does this link mean the total project cost was basically $102 million? That seems relatively inexpensive, if so, compared to other price tags I've seen for Downtown luxe residential towers built during the last decade.

Also, the carrying cost for this parcel--which as a surface parking lot, recall--would've been ludicrously low, for eons. It looks like the taxes were around $30k a year for a long time, based on the assessed value having hovered at $1.2 million for a while. And when you're a surface parking lot, what other expenses do you incur, other than the labor for ensuring the attendant shack is staffed? Utilities ain't much for that kind of use!

Finally, check-out the skyrocketing assessed value on that assessing link above--an eightfold increase in just one year, as all those pulled permits with their declared values, are registering. I have to think the City Hall budget hawks watch these parcels very very closely as they make their fiscal projections.
 
DBM said:
Also, the carrying cost for this parcel--which as a surface parking lot, recall--would've been ludicrously low, for eons. It looks like the taxes were around $30k a year for a long time, based on the assessed value having hovered at $1.2 million for a while. And when you're a surface parking lot, what other expenses do you incur, other than the labor for ensuring the attendant shack is staffed? Utilities ain't much for that kind of use!
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Strangely, parking lots are still treated somewhat like a public good and regressive laws are in place to maintain subsidy status for a lucky few. Even when developers offer dump trucks full of 20s, certain parking lot owners still won't sell because of their predictable quasi-subsidized cashflow. Aside from fiscal obstinance or laziness, the only reason I can think of why some parking lots haven't been developed is because they're covering up literal skeletons! But this seems like a subject for another thread.
 
The buildings on the backside of this are only around 6 floors high and theres a direct sight line to the common and downtown. The west side is blocked mostly but the upper 5/6 floors have a sightline towards back bay. The front has a building across the street but the right corner has a view of the south end and the left side has a view down stuart st. Not too bad.
 
MjolnirMan said:
The location - if you don't mind the specific street it's on - is also phenomenal. 300 feet to the Common, a minute walk to Boylston and Chinatown stations. I see the appeal!
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Do you pronounce the street as "La Gra-hange" or La Grain-ge? The street was a grungy place for a long time but has been somewhat cleaned up and more traffic from residential does appear to make it a little safer. Bonus-there are bouncers at the Washington side for most of the night so... some built in security??
 
dhawkins said:
Do you pronounce the street as "La Gra-hange" or La Grain-ge? The street was a grungy place for a long time but has been somewhat cleaned up and more traffic from residential does appear to make it a little safer. Bonus-there are bouncers at the Washington side for most of the night so... some built in security??
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The latter.
 
MjolnirMan said:
The location - if you don't mind the specific street it's on - is also phenomenal. 300 feet to the Common, a minute walk to Boylston and Chinatown stations. I see the appeal!
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Plus the T is opening the orange line headhouse back up right under it which is nice. I dig the location, especially if it's a bit cheaper than other newer buildings in more 'prime' spots. Plus, you can cook up some popcorn and probably get an entertaining show every weekend night on the street below.
 
stick n move said:
The buildings on the backside of this are only around 6 floors high and theres a direct sight line to the common and downtown. The west side is blocked mostly but the upper 5/6 floors have a sightline towards back bay. The front has a building across the street but the right corner has a view of the south end and the left side has a view down stuart st. Not too bad.
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If you walk by, you'll see it gets a shocking amount of light too
 
3/19 from the Kensington:

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